MMGS

Franklin / Sterling Hill Mines, Franklin Mining District, Sussex Co., New Jersey

Sept. 24,25,26^{th
(The weekend after our first MMGS Club Meeting)}

This is a very cool mineral collecting trip to the “Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World!” Franklin, NJ is just 5.5 hours south of the ME/NH border.

“But I don’t have a UV lamp yet!”
“Those things are expensive!”

Nonsense! Even if you don’t already have a shortwave ultraviolet lamp, you will find the big digging areas both have shacks with UV lights so you can check things out. Also, they have a great deal at the Franklin Mineral Museum. For about $32, you will get a great starter UV lamp with a small flashlight. Perfect to start with to see if you dig this whole fluorescent mineral thing. They also have a selection of higher power lamps as well. At the Franklin Mineral Show, there are dealers selling a variety of lamps too. MMGS Club Members should contact the club president, Jerry Poirier at Jerry’s Gems and Rock Shop. He can hook you up with one of those fantastic “Way Too Cool” UV lamps ahead of the trip. But you should call soon! (207) 571-4522.

Every year on the last full weekend in September, Franklin holds a huge minerals show at the Franklin Middle School on Saturday and Sunday. Dealers occupy three indoor spaces, one of them illuminated by ultraviolet light only for fluorescent minerals and many tents outside as well.

In addition, the Sterling Hill Mining Museum holds their “Yard Sale” where LOTS of great minerals are setup for purchase out under their Christiansen Pavillion. There are usually great bargains to be had here throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday.

While at Sterling Hill during the day, the Mine Run dump, the Passaic Pit and the Saddle area are all open to collecting. They have a small building by the mine run dump that they keep dark and it has a nice ultraviolet lamp to inspect your finds. We have also confirmed that they will be open for us on Saturday night for an evening dig.

Last September we found that the Franklin Mineral Museum opened up their lower function room for mineral sales on Friday morning. Lots of tougher to find Franklin material was for sale as well as fluorescent minerals from Canada and other parts of the world. We hope to find this open again. Since they might do this on Friday, that may be an early stop. While there, we can also dig in the famous “Buckwheat Dump”.

Charge those batteries and get lots of sleep the week before the trip. You will need it if you want to keep up with Chad, Patrick and Kermit down in Franklin, NJ.

Please contact Chad or Patrick to let them know you are planning on going.  Let them know who you are pairing up with for your room and who’s riding down with who. We plan on updating this posting with more details as we get closer.

Chad Cramer
(207) 324-8610
rocks0102 [at] myfairpoint [dot] net

Patrick Bigos
(207) 363-8918
pgb [at] maine [dot] rr [dot] com

Please see our Members-Only Page on the Franklin Mining District for more details.